THE world's leading experts in the fight against international money laundering arrived in Scotland yesterday for a conference.

Hosted by the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency, the twoday summit at Cameron House Hotel, Loch Lomond, will look at how enforcement agencies can ensure that the proceeds of organised crime never reach the pockets of the offenders.

Graeme Pearson, director of the SDEA, said: "It's all about speed. When it comes to money laundering, organised crime gangs move very quickly across Europe. We have to move as quickly as them."

Mr Pearson said that, in the last year, assets worth [GBP]30m were "identified for restraint" in Scotland by the SDEA. The courts are currently deciding whether they amounted to gains which qualified for confiscation.